Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 74: Using Smoke to Overcome Fire
Another day passed.

March 28th.

Liu Chan woke up in shock from his nightmare.

In the dream, Zhang He launched a surprise attack on the Weinan stronghold and burned the pontoon bridge. Sima Yi's army of hundreds of thousands suddenly descended from the sky for no reason and surrounded him, shocking him to death.

Fortunately, he finally woke up from his panic. Although it was just a dream, Liu Chan's heart still couldn't stop pounding after waking up.

Before he traveled through time, he had nightmares of one kind or another from time to time. The most terrifying one was that he dreamed of himself returning to the college entrance examination room, only to wake up in confusion, unable to answer a single question.

Now when I have nightmares again, although I still wake up in confusion, the scene in the dream has changed from an examination room to a vast army with swords and knives flashing.

Twenty days have passed since Cao Rui returned to Luoyang.

Calculating the time, Sima Yi's army traveled a thousand miles in eight days. His Jingyu army might have already reached Nanyang Wuguan.

At this moment, a burst of hurried footsteps was heard, and Liu Chan stood up in his clothes.

As soon as there were three knocks on the door, the wooden door that smelled of pine was creaked open by him.

The person who caught my eye was naturally Zhao Guang.

Liu Chan could tell just by listening to the rhythm of his feet hitting the armor.

"Your Majesty, scouts spotted Zhang He's army approaching with fire from twenty miles away three quarters of an hour ago!"

"Oh?" Liu Chan frowned, tightened his belt, and walked towards the wooden pavilion in the north of the plateau.

Zhao Guang followed closely behind, and dozens of Longxiang Lang guards in charge of the night guard also followed with torches.

Many clerks who lived around the emperor's camp also came out of their houses and rushed over. They gathered around the wooden pavilion and watched in order of their closeness to them and the size of their positions.

At this moment, the sky was just getting brighter, the sky in the east was turning white, and the humid fog of the late spring season spread all over Guanzhong.

The fog was not very thick, but the light was still dim at this moment. Liu Chan could only see the flames of torches three or four miles away from the plateau.

However, it was only the light of a fire, and the people patrolling and keeping watch near the fire could hardly see it.

As for the Wei River, which was still three or four miles away from the torches that were visible at the moment, and the Weibei camp, which was more than a mile away across the Wei River, Liu Chan naturally could not see them.

At a distance of nearly ten miles, a large area of ​​fire must be connected to penetrate the darkness and mist and enter people's sight.

In war, all that matters is the right time, place, and people.

The current weather is a good time to launch a surprise attack.

Thinking of this, Liu Chan immediately withdrew his gaze from far to near.

From the Wei River all the way to Wuzhangyuan, there were torches along the way.

From time to time, scouts would pass through the mist and enter the torch-lit road.

Closer still, there were already three or four war horses with shiny copper pieces and reflective white cloth tied to their tails, each coming up towards Wuzhangyuan at a distance of about half a mile.

The bronze bells jingled, and a scout dismounted and came forward to report.

"Your Majesty, Zhang He is leading hundreds of cavalrymen in the vanguard, chasing down our scouts. Their cavalry may already be ten miles away!"

Liu Chan nodded silently, waited for the scout to leave, and then continued to look back down the plateau.

Not long after, several more scouts came to report.

The news was more or less the same, all saying that Zhang He led several hundred cavalrymen to charge ahead and clear the way, while an unknown number of infantrymen followed closely behind, charging forward with torches in their hands.

"Does Zhang He really think my army is oblivious?"

Zhao Guang felt that things were going too smoothly and he became a little nervous for a moment.

The Art of War says: If you rush fifty miles and fight for advantage, the general will be defeated. The rule is that only half of the troops will reach the battlefield. Even if you rush fifty miles and only half of the troops can reach the battlefield, the general will be defeated.

No one responded, Liu Chan looked north quietly.

If my prediction is correct, the battle on the north bank of the Wei River will break out first before Zhang He's army arrives.

After a while, another scout came to report.

"Your Majesty, fifteen miles east of Xieshui, over a hundred pseudo-Wei ships are sailing upstream!"

The officials and clerks in the pavilion were suddenly shocked.

Only a few people like Liu Chan and Zhao Guang looked relatively calm.

This was also what Liu Chan and several of his confidants had expected.

On the north bank of the Wei River, there were more than 10,000 troops led by Guanqiu Jian in the east, and another decoy force of 30,000 to 40,000 troops in the west who had made a big show of force a few days ago. They attacked the main force in the north of the Wei River from both east and west.

On the south bank of the Wei River, Zhang He marched from west to east.

Now, the more than one hundred ships in the lower reaches of the Wei River should undoubtedly find an opportunity to land on the east bank of the Xieshui River, then head west and wade across the Xieshui River.

In this way, he and Zhang He surrounded the Han army under Wuzhangyuan from the east and west respectively.

"Your Majesty, Minister Dong only has 6,000 soldiers. He can barely defend against Zhang He in the west, so how can he defend against the Wei invaders in the east?"

Under the wooden pavilion, someone suddenly asked a question, and the voice sounded quite panicked. It was obvious that they did not expect the Wei army to surround them from the east.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a muffled thunder-like drum sound came from the north!

Liu Chan was about to turn his head to find out who was asking the question, but his heart was suddenly shocked!
Although his expression was still calm, the so-called confidence in his heart was no longer there. Instead, he was worried about the unknown situation of the war, and his chest began to stir uncontrollably.

The emergence of this emotion caught Liu Chan off guard. After all, he had anticipated the enemy's moves, had the natural barrier of Wuzhangyuan to rely on, and had experienced even more dangerous battles. He had grown a bit and should have been calmer.

The night is about to end, but has not yet ended, and the mist is about to dissipate, but has not yet dissipated.

He looked slowly eastward.

Judging from yesterday's sunset and the white light in the east right now, it will be a sunny day today.

But when he looked back to the north, he could only barely see some of the fortifications and camps built by Dong Yun at the foot of the plateau.

The sound of war drums coming from Weibei was loud and urgent, becoming increasingly eerie.

At first, Liu Chan could still distinguish the rhythm of the Han army's drums gathering and the thunder of their advance.

But after only a moment, in the fog of war, it seemed as if thousands of drums were beating simultaneously from all directions, and it was no longer possible to distinguish between friend and foe.

At the same time, there were almost inaudible shouts of killing, and it was unclear whether it was from the enemy or the friend.

The faint glow of fire finally began to light up around the camp belonging to the big man.

Most of the people gathered under the pavilion were unfamiliar with warfare. The lingering darkness and mist made the war even more uncertain, and the unknown brought fear.

Some people pretended to be calm, while others whispered to each other, and the wooden pavilion became noisy for a while.

The middle island of Wei River.

On the watchtower, Zong Yu stood facing west, looking at the upper reaches of the Wei River.

On his right side was the Weibei Han Village, where the sound of drums and shouts of killing were deafening.

Deng Zhi, commanding two colonels and 4,000 troops, was engaged in a fierce battle with an unknown number of Wei troops surrounding them from the east and west.

Although he was worried, he remained unmoved because the battle there was not his business. He focused on guarding Zhongzhou and the floating bridge to protect the retreat route for Deng Zhi's 4,000 men.

In the middle of the wooden bridge connecting Zhongzhou and Weibei Hanzhai, a bridge tower stands on the Wei River, which is used for both observation and to disperse the weight of the wooden bridge.

Zong Qian, a member of the Zong Yu clan, had already climbed onto the bridge tower and was also looking westward, toward the upper reaches of the Wei River.

However, he could not be as calm as his uncle. From time to time, he could not suppress the uneasiness in his heart and looked to the camp commanded by Deng Zhi on his right.

Of course, some of this anxiety came from not knowing whether there would be an attack by fire ships, and from not knowing whether the iron chain boats could protect the floating bridge.

The Weibei camp was safe for the time being.

Deng Zhi placed his flag on the watchtower in the middle of the camp, and then he climbed up to give orders.

Thanks to scouts, the Wei army was discovered halfway through their journey. The Han army came out of the camp to meet the enemy and fought a fierce battle with the enemy using their defensive fortifications.

At this moment, some of the chevaux de frise and deer antlers had been set on fire. It was not known whether Deng Zhi had set them on fire to stop the enemy or whether they were burned by the Wei invaders.

The Wei army had a large number of troops. According to torches, there were probably more than 30,000 of them, including civilians.

However, this camp was not large, and its defensive fortifications were relatively complete. Moreover, it was facing the water and was only exposed to the enemy on three sides. The Wei army was large in number but could not deploy its troops.

In addition, 70% of the 4,000 soldiers guarding the camp were wearing iron armor and had long been prepared for enemy attacks. As a result, the Wei army was not only unable to attack, but was on the verge of being beaten back.

"General Guanqiu, my guard said that one third of the northern trench has been filled, and half of our sandbags have been used up. We need to get some from you!" Xiahou Ru, the guard of the expeditionary force against Shu, led 4,000 Chang'an troops to attack the northern siege of the camp.

At this time, the man's personal soldiers came to report, and Guanqiu Jian was stunned when he heard it.

"How could it be so fast?! Could it be that the Shu invaders deliberately let you fill the trenches?!"

Before setting off this morning, every Wei soldier and civilian auxiliary soldier carried sandbags to fill the trenches.

Since the Han army had just established the camp, the trenches that diverted the Wei River to protect the camp were more than ten feet wide and deep, so it was not difficult to fill them.

But the Han army could rely on the deer horns behind the trench for defense. Although they could fill it, it was impossible for it to be filled so quickly. After all, it was only less than two quarters of an hour!

"General of the Central Army, how could it be possible that the Shu invaders allowed us to fill the trenches?!" Xiahou Ru's personal soldiers immediately looked indignant.

"Our Chang'an army has brought a thousand crossbows. Although the Shu invaders are hiding behind the deer horns, they have few bows and crossbows and can do nothing to us!"

Guanqiu Jian suddenly realized that the reason why it was difficult to advance to the east of the Shu camp he was responsible for was because the Shu bandits had many bows and crossbows here.

"It seems the Shu invaders don't have enough bows and crossbows! I'll send sandbags over immediately! Please ask your Xiahou guards to do their best to fill the trench!"

In fact, Guanqiu Jian and Xiahou Ru brought a total of 8,000 soldiers here to attack the north and east wing of the Han army camp, which was a detachment.

The 8,000 troops led by Lieutenant General Niu Jin were the main force in attacking the stronghold.

After receiving the response, Xiahou Ru's personal guard turned around and left. Guanqiu Jian looked at his back and thought for a moment, but still felt a little worried.

He also felt that the trench-filling battle was rather boring and did not require much skill, so he temporarily transferred the command to the military Sima and went to the north of the Han army camp to look for Xiahou Ru.

When they arrived at the north of the camp, they saw the Chang'an army hiding behind large shields and shooting with crossbows. They were so murderous that they forced the Han army to hide behind deer horns and dared not show their heads. Guanqiu Jian frowned for a moment.

The crossbow is a national treasure, and only regular troops like the Chang'an garrison are equipped with it. How could his group of farmers and county soldiers have such a treasure?
However, this was not the reason for his frown. He first looked around and saw that the soldiers who should have been keeping their strength were now taking sandbags from the hands of the servants in the distance and coming to fill the trench. He said helplessly:

"General Xiahou, the Shu invaders' morale has collapsed here. We only need to wait for the Weishui floating bridge to catch fire, and they will collapse.

"It would be better to have the soldiers of Jue Zhang save more crossbow arrows to preserve the strength of the soldiers, and to send more laborers and auxiliary soldiers to fill the trenches."

No wonder the trenches were filled so quickly. How could it not be fast when all the precious crossbow arrows and the soldiers' physical strength were used on something like filling trenches, which required no technical skills?
When they surrounded the east, they sent more laborers and auxiliary soldiers to fill the trenches, so as to preserve the strength of the soldiers as much as possible.

The Shu invaders obviously did not intend to waste their precious arrows and energy on the civilians and auxiliary soldiers, and mostly stabbed them with spears.

Xia Houru frowned and said:

"Zhong Gong, the people of Guanzhong are extremely weak. I can set up horn crossbows here and shoot them at them. This will make the Shu invaders cower behind their horns. The Wei soldiers will be able to fill the trenches calmly, and the common people will be spared. In the future, they can even drive carts and transport grain for the Wei army. Isn't this a win-win solution?"

Guanqiu Jian was speechless for a moment. After a while, he nodded in agreement and then left the place and walked towards the east area of ​​the camp.

The task given to them by the right general was not to attack the camp by force, but to delay the Han army in the camp as much as possible and prevent them from retreating to the south bank of the Wei River.

Once Niu Jin successfully burned the pontoon bridge, if the Han army panicked and fled across the bridge, their morale would be greatly reduced, so he would directly launch a strong attack and capture the stronghold in one fell swoop to prevent any further complications.

If they still hold the stronghold, we will wait for them to run out of food and collapse.

Returning to the eastern part of the camp, Guanqiu Jian summoned his personal guards and instructed:
"Go tell General Niu Jin that the northern trench will be filled soon. If the Shu invaders see the fire on the pontoon bridge and refuse to retreat, they will most likely rush out from the northern trench, which Xiahou Ru is in charge of, and seek a breakthrough.

"General Niu Jin, please prepare several thousand elite troops. If the Shu invaders really break through from the north, we can seize the opportunity to attack the Shu invaders' camp from there."

Upon hearing this, the personal guard immediately repeated it to Guanqiu Jian. Seeing that there were no omissions, Guanqiu Jian ordered the man to report the news immediately.

Xiahou Ru's soldiers were exhausted from filling the trenches, and the flaws were too obvious. If my guess was correct, the Shu invaders were simply waiting for the trenches to be filled and then looking for an opportunity to attack by surprise.

Thinking of this, Guanqiu Jian felt somewhat fortunate that the more than a thousand Shu cavalry did not attack the camp last night.

Otherwise, it is hard to say whether Xiahou Ru's thousands of ambush troops can actually serve as an ambush.

"General Zhonglang, it seems a ship is coming!"

Zhongzhou Watchtower.

Zong Yu, who had been concentrating on the upper reaches of the Wei River, heard the reminder from his personal soldiers and immediately made faces and tried to look upstream.

After a while, they indeed discovered a large black shadow on the water surface four or five miles away, coming downstream through the fog at an extremely fast speed!

It was as if they were galloping across the water! In just twenty or thirty breaths, that blurry black shadow had transformed from being barely perceptible to a boatload of soldiers visible to the naked eye!
Not just one ship, but seven or eight ships!
It was not a small boat. Looking down from the watchtower, one could see nearly a hundred soldiers huddled together, lined up on the boat, waiting!
"Bang the drum!"

"Crossbowmen, get ready!"

"Hook, pole, and hands ready!"

Zong Yu gave orders repeatedly, looking confused and uncertain.

Don’t you see the shape of a boat? A raft?

But how could there be a raft that could carry nearly a hundred people?

not human?
Straw man?!
The soldiers who were already somewhat tired from waiting in Zhongzhou and on the floating bridge immediately became extremely alert, but some of them became panic-stricken.

A small number of soldiers did not believe that the Wei invaders could come by water. One reason was that the Wei invaders were not good at boats, and the other was that there were no boats in the upper reaches of the Wei River.

But now the facts are before our eyes, the Wei invaders not only have ships, but also big ships!
A huge ship full of soldiers!
If these hundreds of soldiers were to rush to Zhongzhou and cut the cables of the pontoon bridge, the bridge would be broken!

Why do we need to use fire attack?
Just as the soldiers were horrified, the Right General Zong Yu issued another order that stunned the soldiers guarding the bridge: "Set fire to the ships!"

Upstream of the floating bridge, on more than forty boats connected by iron chains, the soldiers at the helm were all fearless and aware of the situation. Upon hearing the order, they did not hesitate and directly burned the boats with torches in their hands.

Soon, in the narrow waterway of only a hundred steps, more than forty boats carrying suicide bombers and half a boat of cow and horse dung, reeds, mugwort, sulfur and other combustible materials were all set on fire.

A raging fire broke out instantly.

Apparently, in addition to these fuels, there was also an anointing oil to help with combustion.

"Right General! Why are you burning the ships?! Isn't this just burning yourself?!"

On a small boat upstream of the floating bridge, an elite soldier holding a ten-foot-long hook was the first to ask the question. He was responsible for destroying the enemy ships.

Some soldiers seemed to react: "The wind is blowing from the east! Our fireboats are some distance away from the pontoon bridge and can't burn it!"

"If that's the case, why not just block their boat upstream and prevent them from coming down? Why burn your own boat?!"

"If the ship burns down and the Wei invaders still have boats, they can just rush down the river. What will we be able to stop them then?!"

Zong Yu immediately ordered everyone to remain silent and prepare for battle.

On the plateau, under the pavilion.

The group of civil servants who were completely unaware of the war were suddenly shocked when they saw the huge flames above the Wei River.

"Oh no, Your Majesty! The Wei invaders are going to burn the pontoon bridge!"

"Isn't my army well-defended? How could we be defeated by the Wei invaders?!"

Just when most people were shocked, they saw the boat carrying the blazing flames suddenly moving upstream of the Wei River.

"That's not right, Your Majesty. Aren't our ships burning? Where are the Wei invaders' ships?!"

At this moment, under the blazing fire, although there was still a little mist in the air, the scenery near the floating bridge could be seen clearly.

At this moment, there were dozens of boats belonging to the Han Dynasty that were burning fiercely, but there was not a single Wei pirate ship upstream of them.

Liu Chan said nothing and looked upstream of the Wei River. Logically, the Wei people's ships should be upstream, otherwise Zong Yu would not have set fire to the ships.

However, it was too far away and still pitch black.

Dozens of fireboats from the Han Dynasty illuminated the scenery within two or three hundred meters of the wooden bridge, but the scenery further upstream was still not clear.

Seven or eight miles upstream.

Zhang Yu, the commander of Zhang He's personal guards, suddenly saw a huge fire above the Wei River and was overjoyed!
"Right General! It's done!"

"Our fire attack plan is successful!"

On the stretcher, Zhang He finally managed a smile upon hearing this, closed his eyes, and said weakly:

"Niu Gai... you lead eight thousand troops to form a battle array here to provide support.

"Zhang Yu...you must quickly lead 10,000 troops to seize the banks of the Wei River.

"If it succeeds, don't rush up Wuzhangyuan lightly. Regain your strength below the plateau and wait for the Shu invaders to come down and rescue you.

"If it doesn't work, then we can return here and do it again."

Niu Gai asked doubtfully, "Right General, the Shu invaders are already in chaos now that the wooden bridge over the Wei River has burned. Why don't you just lead your army and attack?!"

Zhang He was silent for a moment, then managed a reply: "If the Shu invaders are unprepared, then ten thousand men will be enough to defeat them. If they are prepared, our army is exhausted from the journey, and even twenty thousand men will be no match for them. Let's recuperate for a day or two, then we can join forces with Xiahou Zizang to launch a strong attack."

(End of this chapter)